I Am Of The East And You Are Of The West Poem by RIC BASTASA

i am a man of the east
and i am muddy

you are the man of the west
and you are shiny

but that is not our main difference

i do not look for said difference
or any other kinds of differences
on an endless enumerations

i do not say you're guilty
i am not saying i am innocent
i do not say that you are the murderer
i am not saying that i am the victim
i do not say that you're a waste
i am not saying that i am this
stinking garbage waiting to be burned
i am not saying that you're the eagle
and i am this monkey
or this prey, a chick, to a hawk,
the predator of the sky
i am not saying that you're the alligator
and i am this gazelle drinking water on the river
that you claim you own and that you have the right
to eat me whole
that you are the shark of the food chain
and i am the dolphin
that you are the sun and i am just a
cloud drifting by your strong winds
far from it
i do not condemn
i keep my silence and you keep your gaze.

i am looking for our similarities
our sad eyes